Building slab or tile of concrete, clay, or like substances



Patented Sept. 7, 19.26.

A 1,598,700 PATENT OFFICE. f

LEROY BAUMGARTL, 0F I-I'UBBARD WOODS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO FEDERAL CEMENT TILE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BUILDING SLAB OR TILE 0F CONCRETE, CLAY, OR LIKE SUBSTANCES.

Application led January This invention relates to improvements in building slabs or tiles of concrete, clay or like substances which are used in the construction of walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, etc., and more particularly to a tile or lslab of this character ycomposed of concrete in which is imbedded a material having high heat insulating qualities whereby the heat insulating qualities of a structure in which slabs of this character are used will be very much better than in one in which the ordinary concrete slabs are utilized.

One of the essential requirements of a concrete slab or tile to be used in certain type of building construction is its heat insulating qualities. The heat insulating qualities of a solid concrete slab are comparatively low. Various forms of slabs to improve such heat insulating qualities have, therefore, been designed, as, for example, slabs which contain a hollow interior. The hollow form of slab has the disadvantage that its strength is decreased due to this hollow interior,whereas its cost of manufacture is greater. v

It is'y the object of this invention to construct an improved form of slab or tile for building purposes which has marked heat insulating characteristics and in which the addition of the heat insulating characteristics does not materially sacrifice the strength of the completed slab or tile. Another object of the invention consists in constructing an improved form of tile or slab of concrete for building purposes in which the heat insulating material is completely encased or sealed in aV concrete housing.

For the purpose of description, a preferred form of tileis illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure l is a plan view of the tile; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tile, and Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section on --a larger scale on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows. v

As illustrated in the drawing the tile is constructed of a concrete base or foundation 4, which is preferably equipped with a steel reenforcement 5 of either steel rods or steel netting. Positioned on this base is the heat insulating material 6, preferably made of cork or some like substance, which heat insulating insert 6 is completely surrounded and enclosed 4by the concrete 7 which is 12, 1925. Serial N0. 1,740.

poured and tamped around the insert 6, after said insert has been placed in position upon the concrete base 4. E

In the construction of a tile of this character a mold or form of the desired dimensions is constructed and in the preferred method the upper layer 7 of concrete is first poured and tamped into the mold. On this layer 7 of concrete,lwhen it is still in a soft condition, is positioned the cork insert 6. The concrete 8, which completely surrounds the cork insert 6 is then poured into the mold up to the point atwhich the steel re enforcement 5 is placed. The steel reenforcement 5 is then positioned in the mold, after which the lower part of the concrete base 4 is poured and tamped into the mold. By constructing the slab or'tile in this manner the cork or other heat insulating insert 6 is well bonded to the surrounding casing of concrete and the strength of the completed tile is the combined strength of the heat insulating insert 6 and its enclosing concrete housing.- Moreover, the heat insulating insert 6 is completely enclosed, in fact, substantially hermetically sealed within the concrete housing, and consequently is not subject to the deteriorating effect of weather conditions and, therefore, remains intact and retains its full heat insulating qualities for the entire life of the tile. When the heat insulating material is positioned on the exterior of the tile it frequently deteriorates very rapidly, due to climatic and weather conditions.

The above preferred method of manufacture obviously may be varied and the composite tile may be poured in the mold in the inverse order of that' above described, namely, by first pouring the base 4 with its steel reenforcementI 5 and thereupon inserting the heat insulating insert 6, which is vthen covered with the concrete enclosure 7 and 8.

Any method which will result in a tile in which a heat insulating material is completely encased in a concrete enclosure, as illustrated in the drawings, can obviously be utilized. However, the preferred form rst described above is advantageous because the base 4 is positioned in the upper part of the mold and consequently it is possible under these circumstances to obtain the desired smooth surface on this face of the mold. Since the face of the base 4 is the tions will permit.

The manufacture of these tiles in the fac tory in molds or forms, as just described, results in a uniform product and in a tile' which will have a strength capable of resisting without breakage any handling incident to shipping and installation, and a tile having suchcharacteristics and the necessary heat insulating qualities can be constructed by the improved process, according to-the teachings of this invention, at a savirllgbof considerable concrete for each tile or s a Thus, it has been found in practice that a composite tile of this character constructed of a heat insulating material imbedded in a concrete housing and manufactured according to standard methods in the factory, can be made with a base substantiallyelevensixteenths of an inch thick with an insulating insert of one (l) inch and a top coating of iifteen-sixteenths (i.) of an inch of concrete, together with one and one-half in ch (1l/2) border of solid concrete surroundinggrthe entire circumference .of the heat insulating insert. l

A tile of the dimensions specied without the insulating insert would be too fragile to withstand the ordinary abuses to which tiles of this kind are subjected in handling and installation, but when the tile isconstructed in the composite form, as herein described, the strength -of the'completed tile is suiticiently great so that breakage in handling and installation is not excessive.

In the construction of roofs, Walls, ceilings, etc., with tiles of the kind herein de` scribed, they are placed side-by-side and are cemented together at their abutting edges, preferably by an elastic cement filler.

. The preferred insulating insert which has been successfully used in commercial practice is cork, but obviously any. other like material having the desired heat Kinsulating properties could be utilized.

The tiles constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention should be made of such a sizethat they can be readily handled in shipping and during installation and a convenient size has been a tile which is live (5) feet long and two (2) feet wide. Obviously, the size of the tile can be altered in design to suit special requirements, but it should not be made too large so as to make the handling thereof unnecessarily difficult. From the foregoing description it will now be evident that the composite tile constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention gives a tiie which has heat insulating properties very much superior to the plain concrete tile or the so-called hollow tile and which, in addition, has the advantage that the heat insulating insert serves the dual function of a heat insulator and as a means whereby, in combination with the concrete enclosure it serves to increase the strength of the nished tile.

Moreover, tiles of this character have the very marked advantage of completely protecting the heat insulating material which is ordinarily of a character easily affected by weather conditions, by completely enclosing this material in a substantially,hermetically sealed concrete casing. 4Tiles of this character equipped with the heat insulating insert can be constructed according to standardized methods in the factory whereby a uniform product is obtained and the addition of the heat insulator within the tile does not materially increase the thickness of the completed tile because the strength of the heat insulator is utilized. For this reason tiles equipped with the heat insulator can be constructed in the factory without a marked increase in the thickness over that' of the solid concrete tile and which tiles nevertheless will be suiiciently strong, so that they will stand the handling incident to shipping and installation without excessive breakage.

Obviously, this invention is not limited to the specific embodiment thereof herein illustrated and described, but is capable of other applications and variations, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A building tile or slab as an article of manufacture consisting of a layer of heat insulating material of substantial strength, but not suiiicient to sustain said slab as a roofing slab, completely encased and surrounded by a housing of concrete of insulicient strength to sustain a roofing slab of concrete of the thickness of said completed slab together with the roof load, the combined strength of the insulating material and the housing being such as to sustain said slab as a roofing slab.

2. A building tile or slab as an articleof manufacture comprising a heat insulating material of substantial strength but not suiiicient to sustain said slab as a roofing slab, completely encased and surrounded by a housing of steel reinforced concrete of insuiiicient strength to sustain said slab as a roofing slab of a thickness equal to the thickness of the finished slab together with the roof load, the combined strength of the insulating material and housing being such as tp ustain said completed slab as a roofing s a In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

LEROY BAUMGARTL. 

